Avocado

Vertebrate Damage You May See

Click on photos to enlarge

Deep chewing on a ripe, fallen avocado fruit
Fruit chewing, commonly from roof rats. Opossums and tree squirrels cause very similar damage. Birds, coyotes, and certain other vertebrates also chew fruit.

California ground squirrel burrow openings
Girdled bark and soil burrowing from ground squirrels.

Young avocado shoots chewed by mule deer
Terminals clipped by mule deer.

Water spraying from a microsprinkler damaged by California ground squirrel
Sprinkler damage, commonly from coyotes, gophers, ground squirrels and pickers. Dogs, rabbits, and sometimes other vertebrates, also gnaw irrigation systems.

Bark has been chewed from the trunk of this young tree
Bark gnawed by rabbits. Voles cause similar damage, but vole gnawing occurs no higher than about 2 inches above ground. Squirrels can chew virtually anywhere on trunks and limbs, while pocket gopher girdling is usually hidden below ground.

Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
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